THE REVIVAL OF TAROKO HEADHUNTING RITUALS IN TAIWAN
right to practise and revitalize their cultural traditions and customs (United Nations 2007, p. 6). The Taroko case is a suitable, but not exclusive, example of the complex political interplay between nation-states, local elites, religious institutions, and local people in the revitalization of cultural traditions. This article focuses on the notion of authenticity in the revival of indigenous traditions and how the new headhunting rituals affected local Taroko communities. In addition, the article illustrates how – due to differing perceptions of ‘authenticity’ in Taroko culture between elites and locals – the new rituals created tension in Taroko communities. Importantly, rather than viewing the new rituals as elite strategies, this article focuses on how the new rituals, despite being ‘fake’ and contested, affected both local Taroko identity and also powerrelations with the Han. As such, the article attempts to move beyond fixed notions of culture and tradition as modern/traditional, pure/impure or authentic/inauthentic, to rather provide a revisited understanding of authenticity. By focusing on how identity and power are negotiated during the new Taroko rituals, this article presents an approach that can aid our understanding of the ways in which authenticity relates to identity in the revitalization of cultural traditions in indigenous communities. The article is based on research conducted for my BA-thesis in anthropology during a one-year exchange to Taiwan (2012-2013). The empirical data selection was based on an extensive review of the literature as well as information obtained in dialogues with scholars in the field of Taiwan’s indigenous people. The empirical cases have been carefully selected from relevant anthropological monographs and articles written on the Taroko tribe by both Western and Taiwanese scholars and anthropologists over the last fifteen years. The material was predominantly collected from fieldwork and with anthropological research methods of participant-observation and interviews. It is acknowledged that, due to the predominance of headhunting rituals performed between the early to mid 2000’s, the article lacks more recent empirical case examples.
2. TAIWAN’S INDIGENOUS POPULATION Taiwan’s indigenous population3 belongs to the Austronesian family and is believed to have arrived in Taiwan around 4.000-4.500 B.C.E (Bellwood 1985; Cau-
3 The term aboriginal and indigenous seems to be used somewhat interchangeably in aboriginal studies. I use the term indigenous. 2016 THE UNIVERSAL
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